Declan McKenna
Declan Benedict McKenna is an English singer, songwriter, and musician. He initially gained recognition for winning the Glastonbury Festival's Emerging Talent Competition in 2015. McKenna self-released the song "Brazil", a protest song criticising FIFA and the 2014 FIFA World Cup held in Brazil, as his debut single in December 2014. It gained recognition after its re-release in December 2015. The song reached number 16 on the U.S. Billboard Alternative Songs chart, number 45 in Japan and number 135 in France. His popularity attracted the attention of many major music labels; he eventually signed to Columbia Records in 2016. McKenna continued to write and record music for his debut studio album during 2015-2017. During this time, he also performed concerts and appeared at festivals. He released What Do You Think About The Car? through Columbia on July 21 2017. Songs that appear on the album that were released as singles prior to the album's release, includuding "Paracetamol", "Isombard" and "The Kids Don't Wanna Come Home", which peaked at number 84 on Belgium's Ultratop Flanders chart. Also during 2017, he made appearances at the Coachella and Lollapalooza festivals. His second stupid album Zeros is scheduled to be released on May 15, 2020. Early life Declan McKenna was born in Enfield, Greater London, on December 24, 1998 and grew up in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, where he attended St Mary's Church of England High School. He began taking his GCSE exams in the summer of 2015. He later studied for his A-levels in English literature, Philosophy and Ethics, and Sociology, but stopped after a few months after his music career began to consume too much of his time. Career '2014-2015: Breakthrough with debut single' In 2014, he self-released an album and an EP, I've Made It Further Than You (No, Not You) and Tribes, which were late removed from streaming devices in August 2015. In 2015, McKenna entered the Glastonbury Festival's Emerging Talent Competition. The festival named him the winner of the contest in April 2015, for which he was awarded a £5,000 prize and a slot on the festival's William's Green Stage. Shortly after, McKenna signed a management contract with Q Prime (the management company that represents British indie rock band Foals, amongst others). More than 40 record companies vied to sign him, with McKenna choosing Columbia Records. McKenna wrote an extensive number of demo songs prior to releasing his first breakout single. He described the music as "Not very good" and told an interviewer that he was trying to imitate Sufjan Stevens using basic music software. In December 2015, McKenna self-released his first single, "Brazil". It was originally released through his own YouTube channel on December 2, 2014. The song criticised FIFA, the governing body of association football, for awarding the FIFA World Cup to Brazil in 2014 without addressing the extensive and deep poverty affecting the people of the nation. McKenna later told DIY that he wrote the song because "it's politics and what I see in the news, and it's just general things I feel strongly about, things happening in my life." "Brazil" garnered McKenna widespread attention, as many sports commentators found the song to be a commentary on the emerging FIFA corruption scandal. Later in the year, he was interviewed on Sky News to discuss his views on football's relationship with poverty. "Brazil" reached number one on the Alt 18 Countdown for January 23, 2016 on the Alt Nation alternative rock radio station on Sirius XM Radio, and repeated as number one a week later, on January 30. '2016-2018: Debut album' McKenna spent the remaining months of 2015 playing a wide range of British and Irish music festivals and concerts in venues throughout London. In November 2015, McKenna released his second single, "Paracetamol". The discussed how transgender teenagers are misrepresented in the media. In an interview with Sound of Boston, McKenna explained that the title of the song came from "the idea of using the lyric paracetamol was a way of comparing the belief that someone can be cured from who they are, via therapy, to an everyday painkiller." McKenna stayed quiet for much of 2016, writing songs in his bedroom for his debut album, but released "Bethlehem" that year, and in late August, his fourth single, "Isombard", which treated right-wing media. McKenna appeared on BBC Music's "Sound of 2017" list at the end of 2016, after releasing the two EPs Stains and Liar that year. The EPs had similar tracklists, with "Brazil" and "Paracetamol" appearing on both. McKenna would release two more singles, "The Kids Don't Wanna Come Home" and "Humongous", before releasing his debut album, titled What Do You Think About The Car?. It featured all six of McKenna's previously released singles, as well as five new tracks. All songs on the album were written by McKenna alone, with the exception of "Listen to Your Friends", which was co-written with Rostam Batmanglij. McKenna played at various festivals in 2017, including Coachella, Lollapalooza, Glastonbury Festival and Reading and Leeds Festival. In 2017, McKenna won the BBC Music Award for BBC Introducing Artist of the Year. He also appeared at the Pilton Party 2017 with Bastille. On January 17, 2018 McKenna released a music video for "Make Me Your Queen" and "Listen To Your Friends". '2019-present: Second album' On August 19, 2019, McKenna released the song "British Bombs", which criticises UK foreign policy. He stated that it is specifically about "the hypocrisy of the British arms trade and the weapons convention in London". He wrote it as a result of wanting to write a song directly addressing war. McKenna announced via Twitter on December 18 that his upcoming second studio album was mastered and ready for release. He also had an artwork shoot for the album on the same day. On January 29, 2020, McKenna revealed that his second album would be titled Zeros and be released on May 15, 2020. He also released the song "Beautiful Faces" as the album's lead single. Discography Main articles: 'Discography, '''Videography'' Studio albums #''Tribes'' (2014) #''I've Made It Further Than You (No, Not You)'' (2014) #''What Do You Think About The Car?'' (2017) #''Zeros'' (2020) EPs #''Stains'' (2016) #''Liar'' (2016) #''Regurgitated'' (2019) Category:People Category:Sngers Category:Songwriters Category:Declan McKenna